AskMrCreditCard.com Daily Recap: 11th September 2012
I sent my Macbook Pro to the Apple Store a couple of weeks ago to fix some issues and I ended up having to be without it for close to 10 days. It’s great to have it back. So here again are some highlights from the site and from around the web.
From our site
1. 50,000 Bonus Points From American Express.
Last week, Amex bumped up their sign up bonus for the business version of their gold card to 50,000 MR points. You would need to spend $5,000 within three months to get it. But this appears to be their annual ritual of giving huge sign up bonuses for a limited time. It is good until 25th November 2012. The only bummer is that this promotion is starting at a time when Membership Rewards is having airline miles transfer bonuses (and some of them end soon). For example, you can now get 40% bonus when you transfer MR points to BA Avios (ends 27th September 2012). And you can also get a 35% bonus for transferring points to Flying Blue miles. But it ends on 16th September 2012 (so no time to get the card and spend $5k so soon!).
But nevertheless, this sign up bonus is rather generous by Amex standard and you should take advantage of this.
2. The definition of Costco Gas Stations.
When it comes to earning gas cash back on regular creditc cards that earn cash back, many folks assume you can earn those rebates from all gas stations. It turns out that not all gas stations are equal. Some are considered to be “standalone”. Examples would include Sunnoco, BP, Shell etc. Costco, on the hand, is classified as a discount warehouse and so their gas stations are not considered “standalone”. That means no extra cash back from other gas cards. Only a Costco affinity would allow you to earn 3% cash back! So if you fill up at Costco, make sure you use their card to pay!
3. Update review of Macy’s Store Card
I just found out that one of our writers, Christina, actually has the Macys’s store card. So I asked her to update the review accordingly!
From Around the Web
Starwood Better By The Night Promotion Open For Registration
Starwood will have a “better by the night” promotion from 1st October to 20th December. When you book for one or two nights at eligible hotels, you can earn double points. If you book for three nights or more, you can earn triple points. So if you intend to stay at a Starwood Hotel, you should sign up now.
MR to BA 40% Bonus
Deadline is 27th September. Transfer MR points to BA Avios and get 40% extra bonus. If you sign up for the business version of the gold card (review here, you can get 50,000 bonus points if you spend $5k in a hurry. If you can convert them to BA Avois by the deadline, that would be sweet as well.
MR to Flying Blue (KLM and Air France) – 35% Bonus
The second MR promotion going on now involves Flying BLue miles (KLM and Air France). This ones ends on 16 September. Transfer MR points to Flying Blue and get 35% bonus. Here is a great post on ways to make use of FLying Blue miles.
Part 1: Introduction to ITA Fare Matrix
Part of a 3 part series by Hack My Trip. Great read for frequent flyers and also for FF beginners. After reading this series, you will probably take a jump to the intermediate status. Part 2 appears here
You can no longer check your skymiles at award wallet and many folks are pissed
Delta has joined American Airlines and SouthWest by not allowing award wallet to show consumers the status of their Delta Skymiles. Many frequent flyers are absolutely livid about this. And there are more than enough post today ranting about the topic. Here is a contrarian view
